DISCUSSION NO. 3

What We Talk About When We Talk About

Iris Apfel

Known for her unexpected pairings, exotic accessories and inexhaustible creative spirit, Iris Apfel is now in her 88th year and still going strong.

In 2005, Apfel was asked (by the Met, nonetheless) to curate an exhibit that would include more than 50 years’ worth of her well-curated wardrobe, ranging from couture pieces purchased in Paris to $5 costume jewelry from junk stores. She called is Rara Avis or Rare Bird. Very fitting.

Apfel is quick to point out that her intention was never to gather a collection of clothes for a museum. For her, purchasing clothing was always about the thrill of the hunt. “I like to creep around and dig, it’s no fun to just sit in a shop and have people present you with things. It was the process. It’s not that I’m so mad about clothes. It’s about finding things and putting them together. That’s the fun."

Apfel's thoughts on being unconventional:

"If you can't be pretty, you have to learn to make yourself attractive. I found that all the pretty girls I went to high school with came to middle age as frumps, because they just got by with their pretty faces, so they never developed anything. They never learned how to be interesting. But if you are bereft of certain things, you have to make up for them in certain ways. Don't you think?"

DISCUSSION NO. 2

What We Talk About When We Talk About

George Esquivel

I spent a good part of 2009 researching cordwainers and their craft. George Esquivel is a shoemaker that I had come across and that Heidi and I keep revisiting. We like his quiet role in the fashion world, of which he has recently become a part. He seems to be a pioneer in the movement from fast-fashion and freakish consumerism towards artistry, tradition, and quality.

He has a small team that handcrafts beautiful shoes using leather procured from the tip-top tanneries in the world. 

We love his dedication. 

And his shoes.

 

He has an interesting story--from spending his childhood in hotels to constructing a $70K bespoke and bedazzled shoe. Read about it here.

George's bespoke shoe shop in Los Angeles.

Lasts.

For New York Fashion week, George created shoes for Maria Cornejo's first menswear collection and also collaborated with Loden Dager's fw2010 runway show. Both are incredible labels to team up with.

Other honorable cordwainers and their bespoke shoe shops: 

E. Vogel Custom Boots and Shoes in our very own New York City, two skips and a jump from dear Opening Ceremony.

John Lobb Bootmaker in London.

 Emma the Shoemaker in distant Melbourne.

DISCUSSION NO. 1

What we talk about when we talk about

John Lurie

So we're on a John Lurie kick. Ever since trotting over to Chelsea's Fredericks & Freiser gallery last November to see Lurie's art exhibition, we've revisited his Jim Jarmusch films and his TV show Fishing with John-- and reveling in his downtown-cool persona and dashing good looks.

Lurie's artwork is perfect. Some pieces resemble quirky Dadaist drawings, others follow bizaare Surrealist compositions, and others take after Basquiat sketches--but all are marked with his sardonic humor and smirky titles.

His painting entitled Davy Crockett Has Lost His Fucking Mind.

Another one. Bird Has Absolutely No Face.

A still from Jarmusch's film Down By Law with Tom Waits and Robert Benigni. Of note: Waits's gold-toe pirate boot that he wears is our next shoe-making project.

John Lurie is perhaps at his best in this episode of Fishing with John, where he hosts Tom Waits on a fishing trip in the Caribbean. Expect an ample serving of Lurie's biting wit, Waits's incomprehensible growls, and male camaraderie complete with poker, booze, and of course fishing. Other episodes from this short-lived series from the 90's include Lurie sharking with Jim Jarmusch and ice fishing with Willem Dafoe. Yay!